Tasman National Park

The Tasman Peninsula is built of dolerite, and where the Southern Ocean meets it the rock has been cut into cliffs that reach around three hundred metres at Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy, the highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere, formed of vertical columns that break off into stacks and blades. The Totem Pole at Cape Hauy, a free-standing column about sixty-five metres high and four wide, is one of the world's best-known sea stacks among climbers. Walking tracks reach Cape Hauy in four hours return and Cape Raoul in five, and boat tours run beneath the cliffs. Seals, dolphins and migrating whales use the water below.

History

Whalers worked this coast in the 1830s and 1840s, and in the late 1800s warships of the Royal Navy's Australia Station damaged the dolerite columns of Cape Raoul with gunnery practice. The lighthouse on Tasman Island was built in 1906 and has had no keepers since 1977, and the park was proclaimed under the Regional Forest Agreement on 30 April 1999 (Wikipedia, Tasman National Park).

The landscape

• The dolerite cliffs - vertical columns up to three hundred metres above the sea.
• The Totem Pole - the slender free-standing stack at Cape Hauy.
• The cape walks - tracks to Cape Hauy, Cape Raoul and Cape Pillar.
• The boat tours - trips running directly beneath the cliffs.

When to go

October to April for the best weather and boat conditions; the peninsula is exposed and winter walks are cold and wet. Cape walks are steep with many steps. Boat tours are cancelled in swell, which is frequent.

What to expect

The cape walks involve hundreds of steps and steep climbs, harder than the distances suggest. Cliff edges are unfenced. Boat tours are rough and seasickness is common. Weather changes quickly on the exposed capes.

Nearby

Port Arthur lies west; the Tessellated Pavement is at Eaglehawk Neck.

Key facts